Agrippina. into a deliciously bleak vision of our time, the Public Theater’s incendiary depiction. David McVicar’s production yanks the ancient Roman plot into the present day, with a golden staircase at the center leading to a golden throne. Video of the day: Joyce DiDonato and Kate Lindsey on Handel's Agrippina Wednesday, February 26, 2020 Joyce DiDonato and Kate Lindsey spare five precious minutes during the intermission of Handel's Agrippina at the Metropolitan Opera in New York to talk about the opera Ms. Rae with another of Poppea’s suitors, Claudio (Matthew Rose). Perhaps because he was all too aware that its subject, the ruthlessness of power and the legitimacy of rule, would hit raw nerves at a time when the Hanoverian succession to the Stuart dynasty was a matter of huge controversy and debate. By Gregory Moomjy. This Agrippina is the first of a series of their productions to be made available online for streaming and is a most welcome one. Agrippina at the Royal Opera House features a parade of gowns worthy of any world-leading fashion week. Agrippina English National Opera. Sexual shenanigans, political skulduggery, black humour: Handel’s Agrippina has all the ingredients for a racy Barrie Kosky production. Thespis (opera) is the nearest we have at present to an opera featured article, and the structure used in Agrippina closely follows this. Royal Opera House; Linbury theatre, London; Leeds Grand Joyce DiDonato’s stop-at-nothing empress leads a top ensemble cast in Barrie Kosky’s enthralling Agrippina. In Boston Lyric Opera's production of Agrippina, Kathleen Kim elevates the role of Poppea. Through March 7 at the Metropolitan Opera… Agrippina @ Barbican Hall, London 31 May 2019. by Sam Smith published: 3 Jun 2019 in Opera and Classical Reviews. Without being too blatant, this “Agrippina” does get at the emotional climate of a disruptive era, the clenched-jaw feeling you may well get as you wait for the New York Times app to load on your phone. e Agrippina (HWV 6) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. Don’t get me wrong, I love those events. Skittish Met board members fearing a reprise of the Public Theater’s incendiary depiction of a President Trump-like Julius Caesar being stabbed in a 2017 Shakespeare staging need not fear. ★★★★☆No 24-year-old wrote an opera with more ear-tickling musical riches than Handel poured into Agrippina. Her obstacles — sometimes co-opted as pawns — include the beautiful Poppea; the noble, lovelorn general Otho; and a couple of bumbling courtiers. Buratto, attractive yet dangerous, sounds admirably sonorous over the role’s wide vocal range. Glimmerglass Opera had a particularly strong season. Imperial Rome is the backdrop for one of the composer’s most deliciously cynical comedies, where love is an afterthought and power is the only game in town. Mr. Bicket has already led Handel’s “Rodelinda” and “Giulio Cesare” at the Met. You don’t want to look; you can’t look away. When David McVicar’s updated production of Handel’s Agrippina appeared at Brussels’s La Monnaie 20 years ago, reviews likened the opera’s Roman elite to Margaret Thatcher and the Clintons. She practically oozes across the stage, at one point singing an aria verse in a side plank position that made my abs hurt just watching it. Librettist. Agrippina. Sung In. It’s clever, sharply observed and witty, if occasionally harder edged in tone than Handel intended. Joyce DiDonato. February 13, 2020 March 6, 2020 Peter Szep Review. Agrippina: Opera Arias › Customer reviews; Customer reviews. The ending is unnerving, though Kosky omits a scene in which Juno hastily descends from Olympus to confer blessings on errant humanity below, and replaces it with music from L’Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato. Joyce DiDonato. Review: Agrippina 10:09, 3rd October 2019. And yes, I’ve heard of Mozart. It may sound trivial to start with the costumes for Barrie Kosky's production, but these expressions of personality are deeply woven into the production's thinking, and other characters overlook these power dresses at their peril. Agrippina featues unscrupulously ambitious political figures who act recklessly and an emotionally stunted would-be ruler. No, its not opening night at The Met, nor … And, of course, Handel. Further details here. That this “Agrippina” was nevertheless a success — indeed, a devilish delight — is because of Mr. Bicket and Mr. McVicar. Bold, snicker-out-loud funny, magnetic and unsettling through its power-struggle convolutions, this production musically and dramatically fills the company’s looming proscenium. The opera focuses on succession in imperial Rome: Claudius’s consort, Agrippina, maneuvers to get her lout of a son Nero on the throne, and betrays lovers, friends, and subordinates to … Her final moment in the staging, wondering where her venality has finally brought her, shows her hilariously and poignantly unwilling to return to the annals of history — that is, to die. “‘Agrippina’ is a dark comedy about the corrupt leaders of ancient Rome, who lie and manipulate in their quest to stay in power,’’ Mr. Gelb said. Agrippina. Agrippina was the wife of the emperor Claudius, and mother, by a previous marriage, to Nero. Her aria “Pensieri, voi mi tormentate” is a commanding combination of lines dripping fire with floated high wires of sound. Royal Opera House, London. Pensieri, Voi Mi Tormentate, when the mask drops to reveal lacerating self-doubt, has tragic intensity. By Christopher Corwin on February 07, 2020 at 12:36 PM All opera-lovers are encouraged to attend and experience—probably for the first time–a young composer’s vivid first masterpiece which revolves around the all-consuming compulsion for power and sex. Composer. Italian. It may sound trivial to start with the costumes for Barrie Kosky's production, but these … Forget ‘less is more’. And, of course, Handel. Read more opera reviews on theartsdesk But it’s irresistible in its intelligence — and in the shamelessness it depicts with such clear yet understanding eyes. George Frideric Handel. Agrippina (HWV 6) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani.Composed for the 1709–10 Venice Carnevale season, the opera tells the story of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, as she plots the downfall of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the installation of her son as emperor. Through March 7 at the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center; 212-362-6000, metopera.org. Later, celebrating Agrippina’s ascendancy in Ogni Vento, she becomes a rock diva, singing with a microphone and playing to the gallery. Conducting from the harpsichord, Harry Bicket kept the pace crisp and headlong on Thursday; trimmed a bit, the score pressed forward as spiritedly as the characters’ pursuit of their selfish aims. Three of the arias are from Handel's Agrippina, an opera receiving quite a bit of play over the past few years, but twelve other arias are recorded here for the first time. Opera review: Agrippina at Royal Opera House. Agrippina – Handel. Audience and press reviews of The Royal Opera's production of Handel's early operatic success, directed by Barrie Kosky. Her highest notes pop into the theater. Welcome to the Met, AGRIPPINA: It's about time. “But of course,” he added, gesturing back toward the 3,800-seat theater, “it’s way too big.”. The final opera Handel wrote and produced for his time in Italy, Agrippinais a delicious piece depicting the eponymous character’s machinations to see her son Nero crowned Roman Emperor.Along the way, Agrippina strings along not just one but three lovers, playing them off each other in … My favorite part of every opera season might come as a surprise to you. There was forward motion even in arias of slow loveliness; the dialogue crackled. Agrippina at the Royal Opera until 11 October; David Nice's Opera in Depth course at Pushkin House, Bloomsbury Square, starts again on 7 October with three Monday afternoons on Agrippina. Agrippina, the Handel opera now premiering on the Metropolitan Opera’s stage, may have been written as a satire on the politics of its own time, but in the hands of producer Sir David McVicar, … Handel and his librettist, Vincent Grimani, knew that certain stories are timeless--like corruption … So this new, international production of Handel’s early opera Agrippina, is an important event.. And though the convoluted plot of Roman back-stabbing requires concentration, it certainly is an opportunity for some world-class singing. Ulrike Schneider as Agrippina and Russell Harcourt as Nerone In Handel’s opera, written for Venice as part of his Grand Tour in 1709, the evil Imperatrix is shown endlessly scheming to get her beastly progeny onto the throne while simultaneously extracting him from the arms of the equally duplicitous Poppea. We were promised Agrippina as House of Cards, full of intrigue and political machinations, yet Barrie Kosky plays his joker frequently in a staging which borders on farce.On an austere set, he vividly brings Handel’s characters to life – sometimes as caricatures – as Agrippina schemes to manoeuvre her son, Nerone, to the throne. Yes, he died more than 250 years ago, but at the Met he seems more vital than ever. Gianluca Buratto’s Claudio, younger than most and therefore a credible sexual threat to both Fagioli and Iestyn Davies’s Ottone, can be brutal in his attentions to Crowe, whereas Handel gives him expressions of affection that are deeply touching in their sincerity. Article excerpt. GRIPPING AGRIPPINA For a political comedy littered with slapstick, it’s fittingly ironic that this newest Met Opera take on Agrippina opens and bookends with morbidity: All the main players are … However, I will look again at this structure to see to what extent some compromise with the Opera … ... Find The Metropolitan Opera on Instagram (opens new window) Find The Metropolitan Opera … To review students’ understanding of Handel’s Agrippina To encourage students to develop and express their opinions about Agrippina ’s story, music, and staging To inspire students to think critically about … I recently watched her in New York as Chiang Ch'ing in the Met's Nixon in … And as such, she kicks things off as a seemingly vapid and passive … No, its not opening night at The Met, nor is it the Richard Tucker gala. Tweet. February 13, 2020 March 6, 2020 Peter Szep Review. The opera charts her attempts to secure the imperial succession for her son in opposition to the weak-willed Claudio, whose choice has fallen on the morally upright Otho. Joyce DiDonato's Agrippina is a tour de force of vocalism in Barrie Kosky’s frenetic production of Handel’s dark ... 2011 in Review: Opera. Opera review: Agrippina at Royal Opera House. In the pit, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment are on fine form for Maxim Emelyanychev, who conducts with terrific energy and panache. Opera and Classical Reviews. Link/Page Citation Glimmerglass Opera had a particularly strong season. Royal Opera House, LondonJoyce DiDonato gives one of her finest performances in Barrie Kosky’s witty and unnerving staging of Handel’s opera of political manipulation in ancient Rome, Last modified on Thu 26 Mar 2020 12.42 GMT. For Rene Jacobs this presents treasure trove of interpretive possibility. Even by her own exacting standards, DiDonato gives one of her finest performances, wonderfully voiced and acted, and keeping us just the right side of empathy throughout. And, of course, Handel. That this “Agrippina” was nevertheless a success — indeed, a devilish delight — is because of Mr. Bicket and Mr. McVicar. Her posture is ever so slightly stricken after she’s misled Claudius into decrying the faithful Otho as a traitor. (The genre isn’t known for dark comedy.) The Coliseum, 1 March 2007 . Agrippina. Joyce DiDonato is matchless in the title role, most other cast members likewise outstrip rivals and their vocal qualities are ideal for their dramatis personae.Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev repeatedly hits the sweet spot in his tempos, dynamics and realisations, the score aiming to mirror Handel’s lost original. And the best news? Yes, he died more than 250 years ago, but at the Met he seems more vital than ever. Review: The Met Opera Is Handel’s House in ‘Agrippina’. Stream review of Agrippina (George Frideric Handel, Libretto by Vincenzio Grimani) from Met Opera on Demand at Metropolitan Opera House, New York - reviewer: Robert Tanitch Franco Fagioli’s Nerone, a tattooed psychopath in a hoodie, meanwhile, canvasses for support among the audience, which is identified as the Roman populace throughout. The singers were fearless on Thursday, but that’s not all they need to be. The comic-grotesque manner he regularly espouses certainly suits the subject, but at times it wears thin: Agrippina is a serious comedy with a brilliantly ironic libretto, but now and again … He knows how to guide the company’s orchestral forces in a style that’s not its standard repertory, and the result is an appealing paradox: both beefy and lithe. Photo: Marty Sohl/Met Opera. Agrippina, wife of emperor Claudius, uses her cunning to install her son Nero on the throne at all costs. Read preview. So in 2000, when David McVicar first directed this “Agrippina” in Brussels, it made sense for him to update those reverberations — and to make them explicit, rather than the subtext. As so often in Handel, power and desire are inextricably linked, and the narrative is a complex web of multiple deceptions as Agrippina seeks to exploit the private sexual configurations among those around her. 2015 year in review: Opera. (Opera in Review) By Citroh, Paula. Magazine article Opera Canada. It’s begging to be enjoyed with a bag of popcorn — or with a martini packing some of the work’s frosty heat. Composed for the 1709–10 Venice Carnevale season, the opera tells the story of … Kosky’s setting may be modern but he resists the temptation to … Opera review: Agrippina; Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Tannhäuser Barrie Kosky’s fine Agrippina is a taut drama of political intrigue and amorous advances Hugh Canning Ms. DiDonato plays — and sometimes overplays — Agrippina as a boozy harpy, almost stumbling as she walks and shimmying to the music in her head. But, according to my knowledge, none of the reviews mentioned the impressive Humphrey Bogart-like stage appearance (as well as the excellent harpsichord playing) of ENO music staff member Stephen Higgins. Iestyn Davies, left, as Ottone and Brenda Rae as Poppea. Some of it is too busy, however, and Kosky occasionally flies in the face of the score. My favorite part of every opera season might come as a surprise to you. By Becky Black (Social Media Editor) Tuesday 24 September 2019, 9.38am The textures have the glinting clarity of a Baroque ensemble, but also a richness that fills the huge house. Agrippina at the Royal Opera House features a parade of gowns worthy of any world-leading fashion week. A vivid new production yanks this story of political power grabbing from ancient Rome into the present day. The orchestra, usually a weak spot, was much improved, while the singing was, for the most part, first-rate. ‘The ambitious are bound by no laws,” we are told in Agrippina, Handel’s brilliantly ambiguous comedy about political manipulation and chicanery, first performed in Venice in 1709, and widely regarded as the masterpiece of his Italian period, though he never revived it after he settled in London in 1712. Modern audiences won’t want to sit for hours through parades of static arias and confusing plots. Agrippina, written in 1709, is one of his best—despite its opera seria designation—and the Metropolitan Opera’s terrific new production, which opened Thursday night, showed that comedy remains an ideal … 4.8 out of 5. Ransacking his own works — and the works of others — for melodies, he created an exuberant yet sensitive score, the characters slowing to express their true feelings before exploding once more into dazzling coloratura bursts of deception and double-dealing. Opera Review ‘Eurydice’ and ‘Agrippina’ Reviews: Voices Lost and Found The myth of Orpheus told with mixed results in Los Angeles; political satire transported to a … However, I will look again at this structure to see to what extent some compromise with the Opera project's preferred format is possible. The set is a metal box that opens out into either a series of murky corridors of power where Joyce DiDonato’s formidable Agrippina plots and schemes, or a garishly lit apartment, where Handel collides with bedroom farce, as Lucy Crowe’s canny Poppea plays her lovers off against each other. This opera is cast in the form of opera seria generally, but diverges at times, leaving room for short ensembles and ariettes that do not stifle the drama. The Metropolitan Opera celebrated the opening of Handel's Agrippina February 6, marking the company's first production of one of the oldest works to hit its stage. Even in the early 1700s, this was recognized as a work with contemporary reverberations. Joyce DiDonato (Photo: Richard Young) The fact that Il Pomo d’Oro, directed from the harpsichord by Maxim Emelyanychev, presented a perfect staging of Agrippina would have been impressive enough The orchestra, usually a weak spot, was much improved, while the singing was, for the … But the audience at the premiere in Venice, for what turned out to be the first big hit of Handel’s career, would have known that the satire was directed at Grimani’s political enemies, including the pope, just as much as at the amorality of the ancients. Barrie Kosky’s staging, a co-production with the Bavarian State Opera where it opened earlier this year, marks its first appearance at Covent Garden. The story is ostensibly about the Roman empress Agrippina’s ferocious machinations to get her husband, Claudius, to cede the throne to her vastly unqualified son, Nero. In another debut, the countertenor Nicholas Tamagna was a brightly insinuating Narcissus (Narciso); the bass Matthew Rose was a convincingly bluff Claudius (Claudio). We were promised Agrippina as House of Cards, full of intrigue and political machinations, yet Barrie Kosky plays his joker frequently in a staging which borders on farce.On an austere set, he vividly brings Handel’s characters to life – sometimes as caricatures – as Agrippina … Fagioli’s metallic tone and rapid-fire coloratura, meanwhile, contrast sharply with Davies’s lyrical warmth and restraint. Yet the relentless grasping after dominance that’s on display — as well as the mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey’s gymnastically raunchy, coke-addled portrayal of Nero (Nerone, in the opera) — does evoke something of the riveted disorientation endemic to our time of, ahem, norm-breaking. Link/Page Citation Glimmerglass Opera had a particularly strong season. 5 star 87% 4 star 7% 3 star 7% 2 star 0% (0%) 0% 1 star 0% (0%) 0% Agrippina: Opera Arias. Agrippina . While Agrippina wants to dominate every man in the opera, almost every man in the opera wants to dominate Poppea. English. Written in haste and patched up with material drawn from existing works, Agrippina is Handel’s earliest complete surviving opera, first performed in Venice in 1707, five years before … … ‘Eurydice’ and ‘Agrippina’ Reviews: Voices Lost and Found The myth of Orpheus told with mixed results in Los Angeles; political satire transported to a modern setting in New York. A list of the Agrippina coproducers—which includes Dutch National Opera… Review by Robert Thicknesse . There is nothing overt about the president in this “Agrippina” — save, perhaps, a scene with a golf-playing emperor that actually dates back to Brussels. ★★★★☆No 24-year-old wrote an opera with more ear-tickling musical riches than Handel poured into Agrippina. The setting is ancient Rome. The story has been told for decades that intimate Baroque operas will vanish in the vast Met. Emma Southon likes to crack jokes, but most of all to spearhead a gender critic of ancient sources and historiography that I found extremely refreshing and interesting. Yet the characters began and ended the performance on plinths inscribed with their names: This was a staging antique and modern at once, with surreal touches of synchronized choreography, bits of slapstick and a central golden staircase rising to a golden throne, the prize everyone is climbing toward. When talk turns to whether the Metropolitan Opera should put on old works — like 1709 old — habits die hard. Agrippina. REVIEW: Agrippina. “Agrippina” was one of the major hits of the Met Opera’s 2019-20 season, with OperaWire’s review noting, “There is tremendous passion and attention to detail onstage (of which I didn’t even describe a sizable percentage) and is equally compelling for anyone witnessing it unfold. During intermission at the company premiere of Handel’s “Agrippina” on Thursday, I ran into an acquaintance in the lobby who said that he was enjoying the show. Agrippina, Royal Opera House, review: Joyce DiDonato triumphs in Barrie Kosky's vivid but heartless production 4. Written when its composer was just 24, his “Messiah” still three decades in the future, “Agrippina” shows Handel the precocious master. Dramma per musica in three acts, music by George Frideric Handel, libretto attributed to Vincenzo Grimani, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev, directed by Barrie Kosky, Royal Opera, Monday 23rd … Thespis (opera) is the nearest we have at present to an opera featured article, and the structure used in Agrippina closely follows this. Handel’s biting Agrippina finally arrived at the Metropolitan Opera Thursday evening 310 years after its Venetian premiere. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/arts/music/met-opera-agrippina-review.html (Opera in Review). Met titles In. Ms. Hallenberg makes the most … This “Agrippina” — yanked from ancient Rome into a deliciously bleak vision of our time, played with electric vividness, and starring a guns-blazing Joyce DiDonato — should put to rest, once and for all, the notion that Handel belongs at the Met less than Verdi, Puccini or Wagner. If you’re Barrie Kosky, more is … By Gregory Moomjy. Photo: Marty Sohl/Met Opera. This Agrippina jostles for top place among the opera’s complete recordings. REVIEW: Agrippina. LONDON Agrippina Royal Opera House 9/23/19 B ARRIE KOSKY’S STAGING of Handel’s Agrippina , first seen in Munich in July, arrived at Covent Garden on September 23. Flirtations and fragile alliances, lies, betrayals, schemes and the ever-present promise of sex – Love Island may be back on our screens next week, but it has nothing on Handel's Agrippina. Agrippina, Royal Opera House, review: Joyce DiDonato triumphs in Barrie Kosky's vivid but heartless production 4. The orchestra, usually a weak spot, was much improved, while the singing was, for the most part, first-rate. by Review Roundups Feb. 8, 2020 In the Met's first-ever performances of Agrippina, Handel's satire of sex and power politics, Sir David McVicar reconceives a production he originally … Welcome to the Met, AGRIPPINA: It's about time. Yes, he died more than 250 years ago, but at the Met he seems more vital than ever. Making her Met debut as Poppea, the soprano Brenda Rae proved herself a gifted physical comedian, in one memorable sequence tipsily trying — and failing — to hide behind a bouquet at the bar. Crowe makes a lovely Poppea, but we’re also very aware of the streak of toughness that lurks behind her charm. Ms. Lindsey — groping herself and anyone she can get her hands on, her voice sometimes overwhelmed in fast passages but sly in moments of otherworldly softness — is an indelible caricature as Nero. His Agrippina stalked the stage in a power suit; Nero was a slouching, sullen teenager; there was carousing at a stylish bar, complete with cocktail harpsichordist. Spectacular singing ...Lucy Crowe (Poppea) and Franco Fagioli (Nerone) in Agrippina. Plus dizzying … Three centuries on, “Agrippina” remains bracing in its bitterness, with few glimmers of hope or virtue in the cynical darkness. And yes, I’ve heard of Mozart. After a general sense of vocal unease in the first half, the performance seemed to settle in, gaining some confidence after intermission. Agrippina’s would-be lovers, macho Pallante (Andrea Mastroni) and shy Narciso (Eric Jurenas), though at times marvellously funny, flap and fuss too much. That first run made certain critics think of ruthless politicians of the then-recent past, like Margaret Thatcher and the Clintons. Murky corridors of power... Joyce DiDonato (Agrippina) and Andrea Mastroni (Pallante) in Agrippina at the Royal Opera House. Agrippina was the wife of the emperor Claudius, and mother, by a previous marriage, to Nero. Agrippina, Royal Opera review - carry on up the Campidoglio Vamping, stamping and men-babies on stage, a capricious beast in the pit by David Nice Tuesday, 24 September 2019 Joyce … Under pressure, the top of her voice can grow pinched and strident. 4.8 out of 5 stars. (Opera in Review). 4 / 5 stars . Review of Agrippina. Her coloratura is a joy to hear and watching her take charge of her character is a highlight of the opera. Danielle de … 4 / 5 stars . • At Royal Opera House, London, until 11 October. That this “Agrippina” was nevertheless a success — indeed, a devilish delight — is because of Mr. Bicket and Mr. McVicar. But her voice is otherwise narrow and sometimes nearly inaudible. The singing is often spectacular. 2014 in review: opera. But even then, the cast didn’t fully meet the virtuosic and sensual demands of this music. Handel was lucky to get, in Vincenzo Grimani’s gleefully wicked text, that rarity in opera history: a libretto with dramatic focus, ambivalent characters and worldly humor. The Metropolitan Opera celebrated the opening of Handel's Agrippina February 6, marking the company's first production of one of the oldest works to hit its stage. And she offers tantalizing glimpses of Agrippina’s doubts. Synopsis: Agrippina Select a language to update the synopsis text. It’s rare that we have a Royal Opera House premiere from a major composer. Agrippina . George Frideric Handel. Joyce DiDonato, left, in the title role and Kate Lindsey as Nerone in Handel’s “Agrippina” at the Metropolitan Opera. The orchestral work is more consistently brilliant than the singing. 22 global ratings. Through March 7 at the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center; 212-362-6000, metopera.org. Iestyn Davies’s gentle-textured, oboe-like countertenor is perhaps lighter and blander than the female contralto Handel envisioned for Otho (Ottone), but he brought the first half of the production — which ends in the middle of the score’s second of three acts — to a mellow close with the stately despair of “Voi che udite.”. It was something of a scoop for the festival to engage the great … Seeing history from Agrippina’s … Twenty years later — with the production’s arrival at the Met, the addition of smartphones for onstage selfies and the relaxation of some aggressive late-’90s shoulder pads — the figures brought to mind by this tale of decadence and self-enrichment have inevitably changed. But a little lower down, her tone is vibrant and articulate, with a steely core. Flirtations and fragile alliances, lies, betrayals, schemes and the ever-present promise of sex – Love Island may be back on our screens next week, but it has nothing on Handel's Agrippina. Crowe makes a lovely Poppea, but at the Metropolitan Opera, Center! Occasionally harder edged in tone than Handel intended the Met he seems more vital than.!: Handel ’ s suitors, Claudio ( Matthew Rose ) is ever so stricken. Works — like 1709 old — habits die hard … Agrippina featues unscrupulously ambitious agrippina opera review figures act... 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